1. 'Agreement Between His Britannic Majesty's Government and the Persian Government.'

Description:

Abstract: This file consists of an agreement between the British Government and the Persian Government [a provisional agreement that was never ratified; it was later known as the Anglo-Persian Agreement], dated 9 August 1919. In the agreement, which consists of six clauses, the British Government agrees to continue to 'respect absolutely the independence and integrity of Persia'. It promises to supply – at the cost of the Persian Government – the services of whatever expert advisers may be required for reforms by the several departments of the Persian administration, as well as military officers, munitions and equipment. For the purpose of financing the aforementioned reforms, the British Government offers to provide a substantial loan for the Persian Government. The British Government also states that it is prepared to co-operate with the Persian Government 'for the encouragement of Anglo-Persian enterprise' in railway construction and other means of transport. The agreement concludes with a statement that both Governments agree to the appointment of a joint committee of experts for the examination and revision of the existing customs tariff.The agreement is followed by another agreement which concerns a loan of 2,000,000 lfrom the British Government to the Persian Government. This agreement is followed by an extract from a contract between the Persian Government and the Imperial Bank of Persia, regarding a previous loan of 1,250,000 l, dated 8 May 1911.The file concludes with two letters from Sir Percy Zachariah Cox, Acting British Minister at Tehran, to His Highness Vossug-ed-Dowleh [Woṯūq-al-dawla, Prime Minister of Persia], both dated 9 August 1919. In the first of these letters, Cox states that the British Government is prepared to co-operate regarding the following issues: the revision of existing treaties between the two powers, Persia's claims to compensation for damage suffered at the hands of other belligerents, and the rectification of the Persian frontier. In the second letter, Cox states that the British Government will not claim for the cost of the maintenance of British troops that were sent to Persia to defend its neutrality during the First World War, while on the other hand the Persian Government will not claim from the British Government an indemnity for any damage caused by British troops in Persian territory.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 205, and terminates at f 206, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.Pagination: the volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

2. ‘Persian Mission. A supply of Tents for Her Majesty’s Mission at Tehran, forwarded via Bushire, at the requisition of Lieutenant Colonel Farrant, Her Majesty’s Charge d’Affaires-’

Description:

Abstract: The item consists of copies and extracts of correspondence, minutes and resolutions, cited in, or enclosed with, an extract from a Political Letter from the Government of Bombay to the East India Company Court of Directors, 23 June 1849.The item concerns the manufacturing and transportation of tents to be used by Her Majesty’s Mission in Persia [Iran]. The request for these tents was originally made in January 1846 by Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Sheil, HM Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary at the Court of Persia. The request is carried out between 1848 and 1849, with the tents being manufactured in Bombay and transported to Tehran via Bushire [Bushehr]. In particular, the item relates to:Details about the tents (number, design, fabric, dimensions, cost etc.) and how they should be packaged for transportThe tendering process at Bombay, including applications made by numerous manufacturersArrangements made for the transportation of the tents, including the difficulties arising from the combined weight of the finished productsA request that Major Samuel Hennell, Resident in the Persian Gulf, inspects the tents on their arrival at Bushire, as payment by HM Government will only be made if the tents arrive at Tehran in good condition.A report of the committee charged with inspecting the finished products in Bombay can be found at folio 545.Principal correspondents include: Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Farrant, HM Chargé d’Affaires at Tehran; the Military Board, Bombay; Major David Davidson, Commissary General of the Army; Captain Elgate Whichelo, Deputy Commissary General; Commodore Stephen Lushington, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Navy; and the Government of Bombay.The title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Bombay Political Department’, ‘Draft No. 714/49’, ‘Collection No. 16 of No. 56’, and ‘Examiner’s Office’. The collection number was originally ‘28’, but this has been crossed out and replaced with ‘16’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 522, and terminates at f 552, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the bottom right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the item also contains an original pagination sequence.

3. ‘Persian Mission. Tents’

Description:

Abstract: This item consists of copies of correspondence, memoranda, minutes, and consultations cited in, or enclosed with, political letters from the Government of Bombay. The correspondents are: the Government of Bombay; Major Samuel Hennell, British Resident in the Persian Gulf; Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Sheil, HM Chargé d’Affaires in Tehran; Captain Whichele, Deputy Commissary General to Bombay; and the Bombay Military Board.The item concerns a shipment of tents from Bombay [Mumbai] to the Persian [Iranian] Mission in Tehran, via Bushire [Bushehr]. The item includes a packing list for the tents, complaints about the tent doors, and a note that some of the tents had been stolen en route.The item contains a contents page and the title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Draft No 214 of 1851’ and ‘Collection No 26 of No 111’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with f 308, and terminates at f 320, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the bottom right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the item also contains an original pagination sequence.

4. ‘Persian Gulf. Intelligence of the state of affairs at Tehran – Vol: 41’

Description:

Abstract: This item consists of copies of correspondence, minutes, and consultations cited in, or enclosed with, political letters from the Government of Bombay. These political letters appear in IOR/F/4/2302/118727. The correspondents are: the Government of Bombay; Major Samuel Hennell, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; Alexander Hector, a British merchant; and Mirza Mahmood [Mīrzā Muḥammad], British Agent at Shiraz. It is the forty-first in a series of fifty-one items on the Persian Gulf.The item concerns:Intelligence about disorder in Shiraz and speculations about the instigatorsEvents at Tehran immediately following the death of Mahomed Shah [Muḥammad Qājār, Shāh of Persia [Iran]]A dispute between Alexander Hector and the port officials at Bushire [Bushehr] who refused to take charge of 5,000 muskets which he was importingSettlement about the amount payable by Sheik Houssein [Shaikh Ḥusayn] at Bushire due to him having delayed a boat and assaulted one of the ownersConcerns about cossids carrying British messages being seized between Shiraz and Isfahan.The item contains a contents page and the title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Collection No 3 of No 4’, ‘Coll[ection]: 17’ and ‘Draft no 465 of 49’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with f 628, and terminates at f 644, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the bottom right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the item also contains an original pagination sequence.

5. ‘Persian Gulf. Murder.’

Description:

Abstract: The item consists of copies and extracts of correspondence and minutes cited in, or enclosed with, extracts from a Bombay [Mumbai] Political Consultation, 28 May 1845. The papers contained in this item are partial enclosures to a Political Letter sent from the Government of Bombay to the East India Company Court of Directors, 10 June 1845. A copy of this Political Letter can be found at IOR/F/4/2122/100076, alongside details of further enclosures.The item relates to a letter, dated 9 May 1845, to the Government of Bombay from the Government of India, relaying the Governor-General's approval of the proceedings of the former with regards to the departure to Tehran of two of the Arab men accused of murdering Bebee Asselo ([Bibi Asilu], widow of the former Native Agent at Shiraz). A copy of this letter is forwarded to Samuel Hennell, Resident in the Persian Gulf.The title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Bombay Political Department’, ‘P.C. [Previous Communication] 5061, Draft 29/46, Coll[ection]: 23, Vol: 7’, 'Collection No. 6 of No. 62' and ‘Examiner's Office’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 490, and terminates at f 492, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the bottom right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the item also contains an original pagination sequence.

6. 'Railways in Southern Persia. Note by Colonel E.C.S. Williams, R.E., C.I.E.'

Description:

Abstract: This file consists of a note written by Colonel Edward Charles Sparshott Williams, in which the author assesses the new practicalities and costs introduced by the Persian Government's desire to extend the proposed construction of a railway all the way from Mohamerah [Khorramshahr] to Teheran [Tehran]. He also makes specific comments and suggestions relating to clauses in the draft contract for construction of the railway.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences and terminates at folio 201, as it is part of a larger physical volume; this number is written in pencil, is circled, and is located at the top right corner of the folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel; this number is also written in pencil, but is not circled.

7. ‘PERSIA. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY, NOTABLES, MERCHANTS, AND CLERGY, COMPILED BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL H. PICOT, Military Attaché at Teheran.’

Description:

Abstract: Printed collection of biographical notices, as well as comments on élite dynasties and tribes of Persia [Iran], written over a period of twelve months and completed in December 1897 by Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Philip Picot (Military Attaché, Teheran [Tehran]), then Acting Oriental Secretary in Her Majesty’s Legation. Amendments were added up until 23 January 1898. The author presented the manuscript to Charles H Hardinge (First Secretary, Foreign Office, London), 27 January 1898. The latter forwarded it to the Marquis of Salisbury (Prime Minister), 28 January 1898, who received it a month later (28 February 1898). The title page (f 1) is stamped as having belonged previously to the Government of India’s Library of the Foreign Office, Simla, where this copy was received with two other copies (two for Simla and one for Calcutta [Kolkata], three copies in total) and a letter from the Secretary of the Political and Secret Department, dated 8 July 1898 (location not disclosed). The contents are marked secret (originally ‘confidential,’ crossed out), and specified as, ‘For the use of Officers in Her Majesty’s Service only.’The printed work comprises two ‘inclosures’ [enclosures]: firstly, Picot’s letter of presentation to Hardinge (f 2v), prefaced by Hardinge’s letter of presentation to the Marquis of Salisbury (f 2); secondly, the treatise proper (ff 3r-60v). The contents page (f 3v) lists four main sections, but without corresponding page references. Following a brief introduction (f 4), an alphabetic register [index] of names (ff 4v-11v), and a glossary of titles and terms (ff 12r-13v), the work is divided into eight chapters comprising numbered entries. The first four chapters deal with the royal family in Teheran (forty-five entries over ff 14r-19v), the notables of Teheran (ninety-seven entries over ff 20r-32v), the merchants of Teheran (twenty-eight entries over ff 33r-35v), and the clergy of Teheran (eleven entries over ff 36-37). The remaining four chapters focus on the provinces of Fars (thirty-eight entries over ff 37v-44v), Ispahan [Isfahan] (eleven entries over ff 45-47), Khorasan (fifty-nine entries over ff 47v-57v), and Tabriz (twenty-two entries over ff 58-60).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 60; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the volume also contains an original pagination sequence.

8. 'Military report on Tehran and adjacent Provinces of North-West Persia (including the Caspian Littoral)'

Description:

Abstract: Military report compiled by Captain LS Fortescue of the General Staff of the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force and printed in Calcutta at the Superintendent Government Printing, India, 1922.The volume begins with a statement defining the geographical area covered by the report. The report is divided into ten chapters, plus appendices, each concerning a different subject, as follows:Chapter 1: HistoryChapter 2: GeographyChapter 3: Climate, Water, Medical and AviationChapter 4: EthnographyChapter 5: Administration (including a table of provinces with administrative details (folios 123-30)Chapter 6: Armed Forces of the Persian GovernmentChapter 7: Economic ResourcesChapter 8: TribesChapter 9: PersonalitiesChapter 10: CommunicationsAppendices: Glossary of terms; Weights, measures and coinage; Bibliography; Historical sketch (Chapter 1) continued from June 1920 to the end of 1921At the back of the volume (folio 302) is a map to illustrate the report.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 303; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

9. 'MAP OF THE ROAD FROM TEHRAN TO BUSHIRE SHEWING THE DIRECTION OF THE PERSIAN SECTION INDO EUROPEAN TELEGRAPH'

Description:

Abstract: Map showing the road from Tehran to Bushire (also spelled as Abushehr). As well as roads, the map indicates hydrology, hills, mountains, and telegraph lines.The original survey on which the map is based is attributed to Captain O St John (Sir Oliver Beauchamp Coventry St John). The map also states that it is based on astronomical observations by Captains St John and Pearson.Included on the map is the following printing statement: 'Photo-Zincographed from an Original Supplied by the Director General of Telegraph Department, at the Survey of India Offices, Calcutta, January 1891.'The scale of the map is given as 8 statute miles to 1 inch.Physical description: Materials: Printed in ink on paperDimensions: 1607 x 555mm, on sheet 1662 x 669mm

10. ‘Letters from Persia received Nov.20.1856’

Description:

Abstract: This bundle consists of summaries, and partial transcripts, of secret letters received from HM Consul at Tehran, Richard W Stevens (24 September, 2, 8, 13, 14, 15, and 18 October 1856, Numbers 64-66, 68-69, 71-73, and 75).The subject matter includes the size and composition of the Persian Army besieging Herat, the tactics of the besieging and besieged forces at Herat, an alleged plot by Sheeah [Shia] residents to open the gates of Herat and reprisals by Eesa Khan [Isa Khan Bardorani, Minister-Regent of Herat], the transfer of Mahomed Yoosoof [Mohammad Yusuf Khan] as prisoner to Tehran, the reaction of the Persian Court to rumours of British activity in the Persian Gulf, and a Turkish demand for the destruction of Persian fortifications near Mahumrah [Mohammerah].Physical description: 1 item (6 folios)

11. ‘Letters from Mr. Murray received July 10th. 1857.’

Description:

Abstract: These folios consist of summaries of letters from HM Minister to Persia, Charles Augustus Murray, sent from Baghdad (6 June, Number 46; and 8 June, Numbers 47-48).The summaries concern Herat, including the Persian Government’s reported intention to delay their departure from Herat, the conclusion of the Treaty between Ferook Khan and the American Minister at Constantinople, and the receipt by Murray of an invitation from the Persian Government to resume his diplomatic functions at Teheran [Tehran].Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)

12. 'Bunder Abbas – Kerman Railway'

Description:

Abstract: This memorandum, written by Lord Curzon [George Nathaniel Curzon, Marquess Curzon of Kedleston], discusses a proposed Bunder Abbas–Kerman railway line. Curzon considers the possible diplomatic, commercial and strategic motives for constructing the railway line.Curzon argues that if the line has been suggested merely as a diplomatic rejoinder – that is to say, as a response to a Russian concession from Baku to Teheran [Tehran] – then the proposal is of little merit.He suggests that if the line is being proposed for its commercial value then this should be demonstrated by the figures of trade. Moreover, Curzon argues that the line's commercial effect on any future extension of the Nushki railway beyond Dalbandin should also be considered, since both lines would then be competing for the trade of East Persia and Khorasan.Curzon suggests that one strategic advantage of constructing a line from Bunder Abbas to Kerman would be the prospect of diverting a future Teheran–Yezd–Kerman Russian railway line away from the direction of India.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 14, and terminates at f 14, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.